Peer and Group Contingency
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| By Tim Robertson
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| © 2001, 2007
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| http://www.oocities.org/tarob01/
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| Group based, and peer administered contingencies are treatments for altering or modifying an undesirable behavior to a more desired "target" or appropriate behavior through reinforcement. Reinforcement may either be negative, positive or punitive depending upon what the administrator deems appropriate. Although this paper focuses on peer administered contingency, it is necessary to define what both contingencies are in order to fully understand peer administered contingency. |
| Group based contingency is appropriate and designed for situations where the behavior of an collective group of client's needs to be modified. One example which illustrates a group based contingency is a case study involving elementary school children. The administrators of the modification program implemented a group based contingency to prevent frequent thievery among children in the classroom. The group contingency offered ten extra minutes of play time if there was a reduction in the amount of classroom theft. This contingency was largely successful because it did significantly reduce classroom theft. |
| Peer administered contingencies are behavior modification programs in which the individuals peers are directly involved in the reinforcement process. For example, each child in the classroom would be assigned a peer to distribute tokens for appropriate behavior, which could then be exchanged for outdoor recreation opportunities. In this case, the appropriate or target behavior could have been a wide range of activities. From children raising their hand before talking or putting away classroom materials after usage. There are many advantages to peer administered treatments. One such advantage is the clients increased interaction with peers in the treatment program, which by itself serves as a reinforcer for target behavior. Also, while administering reinforcement the person who distributes treatment may have beneficial behavioral adoptions. |
| A child that reinforces a peer for good behavior also may show improvement in their behavior. Many benefits derive from peer administered contingency. However, peer contingency is only effective if the administers offer subjective behavior assessments of the client. Some peers may not be objective when observing a friend or relative's behavior. They may award or withhold reinforcement when it is not warranted, which may reduce the modification program's success by inadvertently increasing the client's undesirable behavior. Close supervision by a third party can help to ensure fairness in the treatment program. |
| Peer administered contingencies are better suited for minor behavioral infraction modification programs. For example, parents may choose to use peer administered treatment to improve their child's manners. Each child could then evaluate their siblings behavior modification program. In that situation, the parents would naturally monitor the program to ensure equity in the treatment program. Peer administered contingency is a very powerful behavior modification tool for an individual client. To gain the maximum benefit from peer contingency treatment, it should always be managed by an objective third party to ensure that reinforcement is awarded fairly and responsibly. This will increase the chances of a successful individual behavior change. |